Box score
No. 4 seed Box Elder closed its 5A semifinal at the University of Utah on an impressive 17-2 run, and on a different night it might’ve been enough to bounce defending state champion Bountiful. Not on Tuesday though.
Bountiful used a 19-0 run of its own in the third quarter to blow the game wide open, making Box Elder’s late run a moot point as the Redhawks coasted to the 61-53 victory to claim its spot in Friday’s state championship.
Bountiful coach Joel Burton said a simple attitude adjustment was the catalyst to the big second half turnaround for his team after trailing 28-25 at the half and 34-31 with 3:30 remaining in the game.
“When we came in here at halftime we looked like we were a bunch of beaten puppies out here on the floor. That’s one thing we talked about at halftime is we’ve got to fix our attitude or we’re going to get beat,” said Burton.
It wasn’t until midway through the third quarter that thing started to change for Bountiful after Madi Thurgood converted a 3-point play to give her team its final lead of the game.
From there, Bountiful closed the quarter on a 19-0 run with Taylor Harvey and Milika Satuala accounting for 16 of those 19 points.
Harvey was dominant for the Redhawks through the game, scoring 30 points on 9-of-15 shooting while also adding seven rebounds, five blocks and three steals to pace her team to the win.
“She knows she’s got to be the one who really sets the calming influence and everyone is going to go through her as we make a run for a title, and it has been for three years,” said Burton. “Everybody knows about Taylor and she’s going to step up and try and meet the challenge. There’s a reason why the kid is going to do what’s she’s going to do in volleyball and has those kind of opportunities cause she has the motivation to say ‘Let me have it.’”
With the win, top seed Bountiful advances to Friday’s state championship game at 11 a.m. to face No. 2 seed Wasatch.
Bountiful started fast on Tuesday, jumping out to a quick 14-5 lead and led 18-11 after the first quarter. Its Achilles’ heel has been the second quarter oftentimes this year, and that was the case again Tuesday as it was outscored 17-7.
“We’ve had issues in our second quarter commonly throughout the season honestly,” Burton.
Bountiful opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run to go ahead 3-28, but Box Elder’s 1-2 punch of Ashlyn Wight and Madi Thurgood combined to score six straight points of their own to regain the 34-31 lead.
Over the next eight minutes, the Redhawks seemed to score at will using a 28-2 run to build its biggest lead of the game at 59-36 with 4:47 remaining.
Bountiful only scored one more basket the rest of the game as turnovers — it committed 19 — started to creep in, but Box Elder ran out of time to try and complete the massive comeback.
Wight finished with 20 points for Box Elder, with Thurgood adding 15.